Culture

Editor’s Note: Bailee Mulder is a Lynden native and journalism student at the University of Oregon. You’ll see posts from her throughout the summer on ourLynden, and we’ll soon post an article to fully introduce our readers to Bailee. Welcome, Bailee!

The Fourth of July is a holiday loved by Lyndenites, where we celebrate America’s independence and our freedoms with family and friends in our community. Some go on camping trips, others enjoy backyard barbeques, many do fireworks, but however you decide to celebrate, a holiday spent with the ones we love on a beautiful day is always something special.

Wondering where to buy fireworks, the regulations on fireworks or where to celebrate on the Fourth of July holiday? Here’s your full guide to Independence Day in Lynden.

Fireworks: Where to buy

Lynden has four fireworks stands that will be open through the Fourth of July holiday, all on the west side of town.

The first stand can be found just past Safeway heading south on the Guide Meridian. Another stand is set up next to O’Reilly’s on Kok Road – a fundraiser for the Lynden Pioneer Museum that’s been going for about 15 years.

Check out some more great photos from the parade in Everlasting Photography’s Facebook album:

1,250 feet — that’s all the way through downtown Lynden.

From the Dutch Village Mall on 7th & Front all the way to Colony House Furniture on 3rd & Front near the museum, a world-record berry shortcake will block the road on Saturday, June 4th during this year’s Farmers Day Parade.

“Since we have the world’s sweetest strawberries and shortcake is such a wonderful way to enjoy them, this will be a fun way to celebrate Lynden’s 125th anniversary”

Lynden is known for its berries, dairies, and a love of food — so the giant treat seemed like a great way to gather and celebrate as a community. Gary Vis, executive director of the Lynden Chamber of Commerce, explains that the shortcake will be topped with locally grown strawberries, plus local ice cream and whipped cream. The community will then be invited to eat free servings of the strawberry shortcake.

A mini strawberry shortcake, which pales in comparison to Lynden’s record-setting attempt this summer!

Plenty of people should be around to help eat the shortcake, since it will be built immediately following the popular Farmers Day Parade, which draws up to 10,000 people annually. The parade, which celebrates our local agricultural heritage, will start at 10:30 a.m. and conclude around 12 noon.

“Once we’ve built the 1,250-foot shortcake, photographers and a drone will produce the documentation we need to submit to Guiness World Records,” Vis said. “Then volunteers will begin serving free strawberry shortcake to everyone who stays.”

Noticed more facial hair around Lynden lately?

Today marks the 125th anniversary of Lynden’s official incorporation on March 16th, 1891 — and every 25 years since the men of Lynden have undertaken a beard growing challenge. For this year’s contest, around 40 men grew out their beards and mustaches over a 42-day period, culminating in a judging session this past Saturday at the Inn at Lynden.

Categories include ‘Overall Grand Champion’, ‘Best Heritage Hair’ (for those who did not start with a clean shave) and ‘Best Clean Shave’ (for those who did).

A newspaper clipping from the 1991 beard growing contest, 25 years ago, was on display at this year’s contest.

Careful judging makes for a fun old-time tradition

Participants were judged by Rose DeGroot (owner of Fairway Cafe) and Cliff Fast (long-time barber from Cliff’s Shear Design on the corner of 9th & Front Streets). Speaking of the judging process, Lynden 125 committee chair Karen Kildall said “They had a tough job — the competition was really, really tight. But, in the end, they were able to choose our winners.”

The crowds will soon be milling around in downtown Lynden’s iconic windmill once again.

The Mill by Perfectly Paired will have their long-anticipated opening this Wednesday, March 9th followed by a grand opening on Friday the 11th. The wine-and-cheese infused bistro and bar fill the ground floor of the rennovated windmill on the corner of Front and 7th Streets.

Lyndenites Robin and Matt Hungerford, who also own and operate Fairhaven’s Perfectly Paired, have eagerly prepared their menu, space and team for their new Lynden shop. Born and raised in Lynden, Matt explained that while wine and cheese offerings will be similar to their Fairhaven location, The Mill offers a full bar and bistro-style restaurant seating designed with Lynden in mind.

Old world feel makes iconic downtown windmill new again.

The team at Lynden-based Elements Hospitality worked with The Mill to craft a warm environment that hearkens back to the European roots evidenced on the menu. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Elements,” the Hungerfords explained as they shared how the Lynden location came into being.

Friends from their church at North County Christ the King — Elements co-owner Tim Broersma and Pastor Sean Taylor — approached them with the belief that they were the right tenant for the space. Now, many months later the rest of Lynden will have opportunity to enjoy a new fare in an old world setting within a local landmark.

So many good things have been happening in Lynden lately, even beyond all the normal awesomeness that is Lynden. One new arrival to town is the Bellingham Baby Co., which opened their second retail location at the Waples Mercantile Building. The entrance to the new shop is in the interior of the building, through the Lobby of the Inn at Lynden; just past Overflow Taps and behind Drizzle and Village Books.

Bellingham Baby Co. is owned and operated by Lyndenites Shelly and Jeremy Allen. The new Lynden location which opened in early January is their second brick and mortar shop, in addition to their Barkley Village store and online presence.

The shop features a great selection of local Lynden-themed prints, including gear for the little Lynden Lion or Lync in your family!

ourLynden.com is where we post full stories and articles relevant to our community. But our Facebook page is where we often put up pictures or quick tips of what’s happening around town, above and beyond what’s posted here on the website. Plus, it’s a great way to find out whenever a new article is posted here.

This week the ourLynden Facebook page:

passed 1,500 fans on Facebook (152 new followers in the past week);

posts reached more than 26,000 people through sharing and commenting;

more than 6,200 people engaged with posts (such as a like, or photo click).

The AMAZING rainbow a week ago was a fan favorite — between the three photos we shared there were 261 shares, 1728 likes, 112 comments…. the list goes on! The point: Lynden is a great community and we appreciate our town – our Lynden.

Here’s a quick review of what our Facebook page followers enjoyed this week:

Here's another great shot of tonight's rainbow over #Lynden from YWAM North Cascades. "The sky over Front Street is beautiful this evening with a vivid reminder of the promise of God in our lives."

Each year as we near Christmas, families around the country celebrate by decorating their homes in bright, cherry Christmas lights. In Lynden, we seem to be blessed with an extra dose of that Christmas cheer — as so many families decorate their homes in anticipation of Christmas. With strong Christian roots in our community, this time of year is for many a very joyful anticipation of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ more than two thousand years ago. For others, the Christmas spirit has flowed over into their lives and they celebrate each year as a means of gathering family, sharing in generosity and letting kids use their imagination.

Either way, an evening drive through Lynden this time of year is a must-do for families and adults too! It really is ‘Lynden in Lights’! There are a few great spots we’ll recommend — but so much is spread out around town that it’s fun to explore on your own. Maybe even try to ‘get lost’ a bit in the winding neighborhoods of Homestead area.

an evening drive through Lynden this time of year is a must-do for families and adults TOO!

Yesterday, YouTube user James Gassman posted a beautiful aerial tour video of Lynden, which he calls “Soarin’ Lynden Final Cut”. While much of the footage was shot for his ‘first cut’ version of the video about a year ago, it is a unique and beautiful perspective on the area we all love.

The version below is about 4.5 minutes, starting with liftoff of the drone used for filming, in Downtown Lynden across from the Windmill at 7th & Front Streets. [On a desktop or laptop computer: press Play, then click the frame icon in the bottom-right to view Full Screen].

The 25th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade this last weekend lit up thousands of smiles!

From Fairway Center down Front Street through Downtown Lynden, more than 40 well-lit floats including everything from classic tractors to modern farming equipment, ATVs to horse-drawn carriages, passed thousands of onlookers on Saturday evening, December 5th. Light rain and relatively warm temperatures (compared to past years) provided a great setting for this year’s parade, sponsored by Edaleen Dairy and put on by the Lynden Chamber of Commerce.

HOEK Photography of Lynden provided us lots of great parade pictures to enjoy! While every float isn’t included, these twenty pictures provide a wonderful glimpse into the evening. Click the gallery pictures below and arrow through them to enjoy! (Then, continue reading for a bit more story).

Lynden's Lighted Christmas Parade 2015

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As always, Lynden Police Department cleared the way for the Lighted Christmas Parade with their bright red and blue!